Cambria Forest Committee
Meeting January 14, 2015, 6:30 PM
Download pdf here Minutes January 2015
Rabobank 1070 Main Street, Cambria, CA 93428
1.0 Call to Order and Establish a Quorum: Members attending: Laura and Crosby Swartz,Mark Miller, Bruce Mumper, Christine Heinrichs. Also attending: Vari MacNeil of NCAC and Beautify Cambria, Tony Church of NCAC as a guest, Connie Gannon of Greenspace, Julie Jorgenson, private citizen and landscape designer.
Cambria Fire Chief Mark Miller informed the committee that Cambria General Manager Jerry Gruber has informed Chief Miller that he now sees a conflict of interest in Chief Miller serving as a Forest Committee director. He required Chief Miller to resign. Crosby Swartz said he will confer with the CSD Board and GM Gruber to explore whether Chief Miller can be allowed to remain a Forest Committee director.
2.0 Previous minutes approved with the change of PG&E representative, who is now John Shoals.
3.0 Treasurer’s Report: Laura Swartz reported that the treasury now has a balance of $647.39. She purchased a couple more signs, one of which was re-sold to Camp Ocean Pines. They will post it on their property. She has applied for a small grant from Rabobank to cover monthly $10 bank fees.
4.0 Sub-Committee Reports:
4.1 Education/Planting/Mitigation/Operations
Pine Forest Interpretive Sign LocationsThe CFC is awaiting two more sign location recommendations from CCSD, which has not responded to CFC member and CCSD director Amanda Rice’s request. “The good news is that Camp Ocean Pines is putting one up,” said Crosby Swartz
Cambria Community Council Grant Application: Application has been made, awaiting a decision.
PG&E Reliability Program – County Information: Communication with both the county and PG&E is less than the CFC would like. PG&E’s position on planting for mitigation is that they are required to follow state law, but as a courtesy follow county ordinance requiring tree planing mitigation. Where they replant is unclear. Trees that fall down on their own are not included in mitigation but sometimes PG&E plants trees as a matter of good relations. Unclear as to how PG&E decides on where to plant mitigation trees. Crosby Swartz cited the example of 300 trees being planted on a site outside town because CCSD would not agree to having trees planted on property it owns, a process that took three years. Laura Swartz said that CCSD will not allow replanting in Fern Canyon, where trees were removed. The Land Conservancy has turned over responsibility for maintaining its easements to the CCSD, which wants to avoid incurring maintenance costs for the trees. “They are losing millions of dollars in grants to save thousands in maintenance,” she said.
Highway 1 Shoulder Clean-up – Director Miller has received the Encroachment Permit, valid for one year, from Cal Trans, allowing CCC workers to work along the highway. Funds have not yet been allocated.
4.2 Forest Management
Forest Health Grant Meeting: Monday January 19, 2-4 pm at the Fire House. Mark Miller will lead. Director Heinrichs will attend. Greenspace’s Connie Gannon will attend.
Greenhouse Gas Reduction and SRA Fee Grant Programs: Cal Fire advised the Fire Safe Council to proceed with a grant application for $500,000 rather than the $1.2 million in the original concept. That application is due January 27. Monday’s meeting will discuss reducing the scope of the project. The CCC workers pay is not included in that, so the entire project will have about a $1 million value. Money is needed to pay contractors to come with heavy equipment to remove tall trees.
The priority for the Fire Safe Council is the second phase of a project at Park Hill our in the SLO County plain. Phase 1 of that project has been completed and cattlemen out there want Phase 2 to move forward.
Two additional grant concepts remain under consideration.
Fog Moisture Project Meeting: Dr. Neil Ingraham of Fresno State will visit Cambria the weekend of January 24 to discuss the fog monitoring project. He will meet with Connie Gannon and Rick Hawley on Sunday morning to discuss.
5.0 New Business: Director Miller has a colleague who has a drone that he is using to record video on flyovers for aerial viewing. He will connect with him to explore whether he can make a short video clip of Cambria’s forests to illustrate the drought’s damage.
5.1 Comments on New Permit Applications:
Hemme addition and deck addition on Orville will remove two Monterey Pine trees. The applicants will mitigate by planting four new trees. The Orville site also has drainage problems.
The Farmer sun room and deck addition on Romney will remove one large oak tree.
Vari MacNeil of NCAC commented that NCAC has already decided to approve both as within the law, although with reservations due to the loss of trees.
5.2 Tree Planting Recommendations – EWS Evaporation Pond: Director Rice, not in attendance, has indicated interest in recommending species of trees and shrubs to be planted as mitigation around the Emergency Water Plant. Vari MacNeil suggested charging the CCSD a consultant fee. “All the other consultants are getting paid,” she said.
6.0 Unfinished Business
Director Miller led a discussion of the dire state of Cambria’s forest. He conferred with Dr. Chris Dicus of Cal Poly’s Forestry Department, who visited Cambria. He spent six months in Australia during the 2009 fire that wiped out the small town of Marysville. “Marysville is Cambria,” Miller reported that Dicus said.
6.1 Recommend Locations for 40 Mitigation Trees: deferred to gather more information
7.0 Public Comments: Julie Jorgenson said that her husband works for CNN News out of Los Angeles and she will suggest that he do a story on Cambria and the dangerous fire risk, another aspect of the damage done by the drought.
Director Miller said that a Monterey Pine forest will normally burn and renew itself, but with all the people living in Cambria’s forest, that’s not possible. “That doesn’t reduce the need for the forest to renew itself, though” he said.
Crosby Swartz said that we need to increase everyone’s awareness of the problem.
8.0 Adjournment at 7:50 pm
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